Folding machine



w. w. DAVIDSON 2,190,413

FOLDING MACHINE Feb. 13, 1940.

4 sneetssheet 1 Filed Hay 2, 1938 Feb. 13, 1940. w. w. DAvmsoN FOLDINGvMACHINE Filed May 2, 1958 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 Feb.13,194o. w w DAWSON2,190,413

FOLDING MACHINE Filed nay 2, 1938 4 smeg-sheet :s

Feb. 13, 1940.

w. W. DAVIDSON FOLDING MACHINE Filed May 2, 1938 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 H@mw/humm Patented Feb. 1940 l I UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE FOLDINGMACHINE William Ward Davidson, Evanston, Ill., assignor to DavidsonManufacturing Corporation, a corporation of Illinois Application May 2,1938, Serial No. 205,571

24 Claims. (Cl. 271-49) In printing plants handling a variety of typesable that the conveying table be convertible to of work the provision offolding machines which turn thev sheet in either direction with greatwill meet all of the requirements has been a ease, and that its costshall not be greatly insevere problem. The folding to be accomplishedcreased to this end. l

may vary all the way from a single fold, as in From the foregoing itisevident that an obletters, pamphlets and the like, to a complicatedject of the present invention is t provide a conseries of folds some inone direction and some veyor table which in carrying the sheet from onein another, such as may be used in folding forms folding unit to anothercan turn the sheet. in of manypages for books. The folding of bookeither direction and accurately register it for the sections varieswidely depending on the numsucceeding fold, and which is easily changedover 10 ber of pages and the manner of binding. from one function toanother, although designed In the past a single machine capable of pertobe relatively inexpensive in cost. forming various series of foldsincluding folds Further objects and advantages of the invenin differentdirections has been extremely comtion will appear as the description isread in 15 plicated and has necessarily included many foldconnectionwith the accompanying drawings, in 15 ing units which would lie idlemost of the time, which: when running simpler folds. To have the equip-Fig. l is a vertical longitudinal sectional view -ment available for awide variety of folds retaken through the machine approximately on thequires large land bulky machines. The costs of line l-I of Fig. 2, thestacking unit being frag- .,U such machines have been so high and theirmentarily shown in one position infull lines and space requirements sogreat that only large con- `in two alternative positions in dottedlines. cerns have been able to buy them. In general, Fig. 2 is afragmentary sectional view taken the size and cost of the machines havebeen neapproximately on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1, showcessitated largelyby lack of ilexibility. In my ing the topof the turning table with asheet prior Patent No. 1,620,444 I disclosed one many 0f paper shown indotted lines in three posi- 25 ner of obtaining iiexibility, consistingin the protions. vision between two folding units of a conveyor Fig. 3is a view similar to Fig. 2 but showing for carrying the sheet from oneunit to the other, the machine arranged for turning the paper togetherwith means for turning the sheet 90 in the opposite direction.

30. or not turning it at all at will. In its illustrated Fig. 4 is atransverse sectional View taken ap- 30 form the present invention usesthis combinaproximately-on the line 4-4 of Figs. 1 and 2. tion inimproved form, preferably with a second Fig. 5 is a similar View takenapproximately conveyor capable of turning the 4sheet and with on theline 5-5 of Figs. 1 and 2.

a delivery table or stacking unit which may be Fig. 6 is a fragmentarysectional View taken attached adjacent to any -folding .unit so thatapproximately on the line 6-6 of Figs. l and `2. 35

the sheet may be ejected fromA the machine at Fig 7 iS a fragmentaryView Showing the adthe earliest possible moment, -thus reducing thejustable belt guide and tightenel taken 0n line number of idle foldingunits which the complete- 7-1 0f Fig. 1-

1y fouled sheet must pass and the number of" Fig. Bis aperspective view0f the pressure strip 40 adjustments which must be made to cause the OIDressing the papel against the COIlVeYOl belt 40 sheet to pass au theway through the machine to insure proper movement 0f the paper.

Without being further folded. Further simpli- `Fg- 9 iS a Similar VieWOf the paper guide cation is secured by providing a simplified formWhich the paper Strikes and alOl'lg Which it Slides.

, of conveyor table capable of turning the sheet A preferredeIlbOdlfrlel'lt 0f the HVeTlO has in either direction. `been shown inthe drawings and will hereinafter 45 It is very important that theconveyor table be described, all as required by Sec. 4888 of the becapable of turning the sheet in either direc- Revised Statutes, but theappended claims are tion since this will multiply the variety of foldsnot to be limited by the specic disclosure unthat can be accomplishedby` the complete maless required by the prior art.

chine. Of course, it is not only necessari1 that As seen in Fig. l, theentire folding machine 50 the sheet be turned in either direction out,in -may be supported by a frame I and, briey stateach instance it mustbe accurately registered as ed, includes a feed table indicated more orless to its angular position so that the succeeding folddiagrammatically at 2, a conveying and turning will be at exactly to thepreceding fold. From table indicated as a whole by the numeral- 3, a

s.: the commercial standpoint it is of course desirsecond conveying andturning table indicated as g5 vlar at all positions.

begin with II in unit I0', 2| in unit 20, and 3| I0 and 20, and with an,ejecting and stackingl unit 1 optionally positioned adjacent anyfolding unit to receive the folded sheet therefrom'.

Folding um'ts Although the folding units may be ofany type, thatillustrated is the vbuckle type and it is simi- The reference numeralsin unit 30, the last digits being the same for like parts. The paper isfed to the folding unit IIJ from lthe table 2 on which it isplacedeither by hand or more commonly by an automatic feeding device 8.The construction of the folding units is seen best in Fig. 1, thefeeding and folding rolls being numbered II, I2 and I5. The rolls and I2first receive the paper and feed it into the buckle chute I3, which itenters freely until it strikes the paper stop I4 which stops the forwardedge of the paper. Since the feeding action of rolls and I2 continues,the paper necessarily buckles into the space between rolls I2 and I5.The buckled sheet is thus caught by these 'two rolls and drawn inbetween them to crease the buckled sheet and thus complete the fold. Theposition of theyfold is determined by the position of the paper stop I4which may be adjusted by loosening the clamping-nut I6. The two rolls I2and I5 continue to draw the paper down between them, drawing it out ofthe buckle chute I3 and feeding it to the next unit of the machinel oran adjacent buckle chute if one is provided.A Thus, in the case of adouble folding unit such as the unit 30 the rolls 32 and 35 may feed thesheet into a second buckle chute 38. This second buckle chute, togetherwith rolls 35 and 39, makes a fold parallel to that made by theassociated buckle. chute 34.

After the first fold the sheet passes from the rolls I2 and I5 to thescoring rolls 5, one of which may be grooved or formed of rubber toreceive a blade-like member on the other. It may be observed that thescoring is not necessary before the first fold but is usually desirablefor subsequent right-angle folds to insure a smooth fold of the alreadyfolded paper. If there is to be no subsequent right-angle fold, thescoring rolls may be separated or moved to one side so as not to score.

Defiectors Below the scoring rolls 5 and below eachbut the last foldingunit is a defiector 46 for directing the paper in the desired directionaway from the folding unit. These deflectors 46 are shiftable betweenthe position shown in full lines and that shown in dotted line. In thefull-line pov sition the deflector guides the folded sheet toward thenext folding unit or, more specifically, onto the conveyor and turningtable 3 or 4. When a deflector 46 is in the dotted line position itguides the folded sheet directly to the ejector rolls 48 and 49 whichwill then have been moved with the stacking unit 1 to the position shownin dotted lines adjacent the deflector 46'in question. It is evidenttherefore that the machine may be adjusted to eject the folded sheetsAimmediately after they leave any one of the three folding units. Inother words, if the sheet is to be folded only once, it may pass throughthe folder I0 and If itis two folders I0 and 2|I and then immediately tothe stacking unit 1.

Conveying ,and turning tables If more than one fold is desired in thesheetv the deflector 46 'below scoring rolls 5 will be set as shown infull lines in Fig. 1 to guide the folded sheet onto the conveying andturning table y 3 which will feed the sheet to the second folding unitor, more specifically, to the rolls 2| and 22 thereof. If it is desiredthat the fold formed by this second folding unit be at right angles tothe first fold, this can be accomplished by turning the sheet throughAccording to thev present invention the turning of the sheet isaccomplishedby an-improved form of table. The table includes a table top9| which may be supported from the frame I in any suitable manner as bybrackets 92 and bar 94, seen best in Fig. 4. A feed belt 95 slides overtable top 9|,v

being driven byroll 96. The belt passes around an idler roll 91 at itslower end and may be tightened-and positioned laterally of the tablev bytightener and vguide 98, which, upon loosening screw 98', may be slidalong rod 99 carried by pivoted links |00. j

'I'he folded sheet is passed onto the belt 95 from the deflector 46 andiscarried under a traction plate |0| which is positioned by bracket |02sliding on bar |03 and bracket |04 (Fig. '1) sliding on bar |05. Thetraction plate is positioned directly o ver the belt 95 wherever thebelt may be positioned by belt guide 98 and is secured vin this positionby set screws |06. The traction plate |0| may be provided with any meanssuch as the marbles |01 for pressing the sheet against the belt 95lwithrelatively little friction, so as to insure the proper movement ofthe sheet by the belt.

Resting on the table top 9| and preferably extending under the belt 95is a paper guide III seen in Fig. 9. This paper guide is positionedproperly with respect fto the belt 95 and traction plate I0| by a clampI|2 secured at any position on the bar |05 by a set screw II3. The

with a shoulder I|6 forming a turning stop beyond which is an extensionI|1 which forms a guide. over the sheet te insure that the sheet` Aproperly engages the shoulder IIB. Of course, a 'separately mountedspring finger could serve in place of the extension II1.

In Fig. 2 three positions of the /paper sheet being turned are shown indotted lines. At 2| the sheet has been dropped onto the belt 95 and isbeing moved forwardly by it toward the shoulder ||6. At |22 the sheethas struck the shoulder ||6 which stops one end of the sheet and thebelt 95 has carried the other end of the sheet forwardly, thus turningthe sheet. At |23 the belt has turned the sheet through 90 and hascarried it beyond the shoulder ||6. The lateral inclination of the belt95 is now pressing the sheet against the edge guiding ange II5, thusinsuring the accurate lateral position of the sheet and also insuringthat it is turned to exactly 90. To be sure that the sheet'does not jamor slide off of its proper course, a pressure roller |24 supported fromthe traction plate |0| by spring urged arm 25 may be providedto pressthe paper firmly against the belt 35.

' shoulder I I6.

' aromas The position of the roller |24 is quite important. It operatesbest when positioned as shown with its axis extending approximatelythrough the shoulder IIS, which forms the pivotal axis for the turningof the sheet. It will be observed that if the sheet rotates freely aboutthe point ||6 that portion under the roller |24 is always movingin adirection perpendicular to a line` extending between the shoulder IIBand the roller |24. direction there will not need to be any lateralslippage either between it and the sheet or between the sheet and theshoulder I I6. From this standpoint the theoretical ideal position forthe roller |24 would be slightly lower (to the left in Fig. 2) than theposition shown so that its axis would exactly pass through the shoulderII6, the inclination of the roller being the same as the inclination ofthe belt. However, at the present time it appears to be desirable thatthe paper be engaged `in the bite between the roller |24 and the belt 95at the time that it strikes the shoulder ||6 so as to insure thecontinued proper movement of the paper after it strikes the For thisreason the roller |24 is positioned slightly in advance of thetheoretical position mentioned. NcverthelessHit is so close to thatposition that the slippage between the sheet and the shoulder |I6 duringthe turning of the sheet may be negligible.

Another important consideration with respect to the roller |24 is thatits pressure on the sheet be exactly regulated. lt will be evident thatthe sheet must twist under the roller |24 and hence the tension shouldbe low enough to permit this twisting action without buckling the sheet.On the other hand, there is appreciable friction between the sheet andthe other parts of the table, and the pressure of the roller |24 shouldbe suiiicient'to overcome this friction safely in turning the sheet.VFurthermore, the pressure necessary and safe varies vaccording to thenature and thickness of the sheet. For this reason the pressure of theroll should be adjustable minutely or with infinitesimal variations.accomplished by the construction seen best in Fig. 8, in which thepressure is applied to arm |25 by spring |26, the tension of which maybe adjusted by a thumb screw |21 threaded on a bar |28 which is pivotedat |29 to the post |30 to which the arm |25 is pivoted.

The .roller |24 could be made of conical shape with its axisintersecting the bottom of the stop shoulder. This would eliminate thenecessity of slippage between the roller and the turning sheet and hencewould decrease the necessity for ne adjustment of the pressure of roller|24.

After the sheet is turned, the inclination of the conveyor belt 95thrusts it against edgeA guide ||5 so that it is accurately alined forfeeding to the folding unit 20. The angular positionof the edge guide||5 (and of the entire paper guide III) may be adjustedl upon 'looseningthe set screw |32. Ordinarily the edge guide will be set to extendexactly perpendicularly to the rollers 2| and 22 as indicated bysuitable markings on the clamp II2 and the pin |33 extendingtherethrough.

Reversed tum similar to the paper guide ||I but positioned If the rollerrotates in this same lhence may be called swivel bearings.

This is on the opposite side of the machine and by changing the belt 95and traction plate ||l| to position them near and incline them towardthe paper guide 2|I. The guide strip I0| may -be shifted for thispurpose by looseningr the set screws |06. The belt 95 may be positionedlateially by sliding the belt guide 98 along on its supporting shaft 99after .loosening screw 98'.

In orderto incline the belt 95 in the oppositedirection, as shown inFig. 3, it is necessary to reverse the angular position of the rolls 96and S1l carrying this belt. To this end the rolls 96 and 91 arejournaled in bearing blocks |36 which are pivoted to slide bars |31 and|38 and As seen best in Fig. 5, the slide bars are supported by andslide with respect vto bracket S2. A handle 139 may be rigidly securedto the .slide bar |31 and extend outwardly from the frame I to fa.cilitate shifting the slide bar |31. The slide bar |38 is operated insynchronism with the slide bar |31 by means of a lever |40 pivoted by apin I4! to the cross bar |42 of the frame so that when the slide bar |31is moved in one direction the slide bar |38 is automatically movedin thecppc site direction. Any suitable means may be provided for securing theslide bars |31 and |38 in the adjusted position as, for example, the setscrew |49. which is` threaded through the bracket v92 adjacent to thehandle |39, and which, when advanced upwardly, bears against the slidebar |31. The belt 95 is driven by a drive belt |43.v Thebelt |43 should,of course, be driven from a position equidistant from the two positionsof the pulley on roll 96 to permit the rcversing of the angularity ofthe'rolls 96 and 91 as already described, and so that the belt will betight in both positions.

The lower feeding table 4 may be substantially the same as the feedingtable 3 already described, although for some purposes it need not bereversible to turn the sheet in either direction at will.

Additional folding units Although the folding units I0 and 2U have eachbeen illustrated as only a single folding/unit, it should be understoodthat additional folding units may be provided at each position ifdesired.- For example, at either or both of units I and 20 there may betwo or more folders. Such multiple folding units are well known andtherefore need not be specifically described. The arrangement of suchmultiple folding units should be such as to cause the sheet to passthrough all sections thereof to form two or more parallel` folds in thesheet or to skip all but one of the sections so as to form only one foldin the sheet at this position. 4

' vOperation When a flat sheet is fed along the table 2 to rolls II andI2, these rolls feed the sheet into buckle chute I3 until it strikes thepaper stop I4, after which the sheet buckles and is caught betweenfolding rolls I2 and I5 which feed the folded sheet between the scoringrolls 5 unless intervening folders are provided in' connection withfolding unit I0. If ythe sheet is to be further folded, the deilector 46below folding unit I0 is set in the position shown in full lines and thesheet passes onto the belt 95 which carries it along under theguidestrip ||l| and the guide extension ||1.

If the next fold is to be at right angles to the u 90 as it is carriedon by the beu saagamst which the paper is pressed firmly by the. roller|24. After the sheet has been turned it is properly lined up for thenext operation by being pressed against the edge guiding flange II5 dueto the lateral inclination of the belt 95 in that direction. If thesecond fold is to be parallel to the first fold, the sheet is not turnedon the table 3. Turning may be avoided by replacing the sheet guide witha plain sheet guide which does not have a roller |28 or stop H5, butinstead has the edge guide ||5 extending the length of the table 3. Ifthe sheet guide is retained, the machine may be adjusted to cause thepaper to strike the edge guide I I5 after it has ,Fig 2, this can easilybe accomplished. The

thumb screw |49 is released,l and the handle |39 is shifted to the leftfrom the position seen in Fig. 2 to the position seen in Fig. 3 therebyreversing the inclination of the rolls 96 and 91 so that the belt 95will be inclined toward the 'right of the direction of the sheetmovement instead 0f toward the left. 'Ihe sheet guide 2 I will then beplaced on the right-hand side of the machine and lthe correspondingguide I removed from the left-hand side of the machine. Next, the lbelt95 will be shifted to the proper position as seen in Fig. 3 with respectto the sheet guide 2||. This is accomplished by loosening the thumbscrew 98 and sliding the belt guide 98 ,along the rod 99. Finally, thetraction plate |0|. is shifted from the position seen in Fig. 2 to theposition seen in Fig. 3 directly over belt 95 .in its new position. Thevarious thumb screws will of course be tightened to hold the .parts intheir new positions. Now when a sheet is delivered onto the belt 95 iswill be carried without turning until its end strikes stop shoulder'`2|6, at whichtime the belt 95 in cooperation with the roller |24 willrotate it as illustrated in Fig. 3 about the stop shoulder 2|6 until ithas been turned 90, at which time it will strike the edge guide 2|5 andbe accurately alined by said edge guide and held in the desired lateralposition untilit is delivered to the rolls 2| and 22.

' One 'important feature of the inventionis its l simplicity, which isespecially important in view of thenecessity for adjusting the machineto turn the sheet lin either direction or carry it without l sheetagainst the belt, and at the point where the greatest traction is neededthe roller |2||` is provided. The use of a single belt is advantageousinherently in that it eliminates the possibility of the corners of thesheet catching on other belts as the sheet is turned. To prevent theleading edge of the sheet from catching onl table top 9|, roll 95, orroll 22, the sheet guides' and 2| are constructed to extend close to therolls 9 6 and 22 and the table top 9| is made V-shaped at its ends sothat the rolls 95 and-96 can t closely thereto. There is no possibilityof the sheets catching on the flat portion ||4 of the sheet guide III(or 2| I) since its longitudi- `nal edge lies under the belt 95 and itsend is depressed, at |56 adjacent the roll 96. Because of serving as anextension of the table this at portion lll may be called a supplementaltable top.

These folding machines are sometimes operated at very high speed- Theresult is that the sheets will strike the edge guide ||5 withconsiderable speed and hence with appreciable momentum. This momentumtends to make the sheets bounce away from the edge guide and suchbouncing would of course be disastrous to perfect 'registry of the sheetfor subsequent folds if the effects lof the bouncing were not overcome.However, the marbles |01 in the lower part of the traction plate |0|which press the sheet onto the belt 95 are effective to substantiallyeliminate this bouncing of the sheets, by which is meant that if anybouncing occurs it is so slight that the belt returns the sheetto theedge guide H5 immediately and before it reaches the bite of the rolls 2|and 22. It is of course very important in a high speed folding machinethat the sheets be turned and fed to the next folding unitwithabcorrections for errors on individual sheets, and,

lif one sheet j ams, a large number of sheets mayI be spoiled. 'I'hecombination of the various features described produces this highlydesirable dependability.

The belt 95 now feeds the paper tothe folder rolls 2| and 22 of foldingunit 20 by which the sheet is fed into chute 23 until it strikespaperstop 2l, at which time it buckles and is caught between rolls 22 and 25.Subsequent conveying or conveying and turning operations and subsequentfolding operations are similar to those already described and thereforeneed not `be described in detail. The various features described in`connection with table! are embodied in the table 4 illustrated so thatit will turn the sheets with equal dependability when such turning isde- 'Ihe 'statement in thev appended yclaims to the effect that portionsof the diagonally-movingV sheet engaging means are spaced a substantialdistance away from the side guide in order that sheets initially widelyspaced from the side guide will be urged throughout substantially theirentire length by said diagonally-moving means toward said guide andintoregistry therewith, is intended to mean that said portions of thediagonally moving sheet engaging means are spaced from the side guide asufficient distance so that taking into consideration the range of errorwithin which sheets may be fed to the conveyor. or the range of errorwithin which a turn may be made, the diagonally-moving sheet engagingmeans will dependably move the sheets laterally in to engagement andregistry with the side guide.

This application is a continuation in part of an application flied byAlfred Anderson and myself on February 24, 1936, Serial No. 65,372.

I claim: l

-1. In a machine of the kind described, a conveyor comprising twoparallel spaced conveyor rolls, a conveyor belt trained around the rollsand I shiftable along said rolls, means mounting the rolls whereby theycan be inclined relatively to the normal line of travel of articles onthe conveyor to cause the belt to urge articles either toward the rightor toward the left as they progress Aalong the conveyor, guides adaptedto be arranged at the side of the conveyor toward which the articles areurged, a stationary plate extending between the rolls for supporting thebelt, the guide having a iiat extension at its lower edge extending outover the stationary plate. 2. In a machine of the kind described, aconveyor comprising two parallel spaced conveyor rolls, a conveyor belttrained around the rolls and shiftable along the rolls, longitudinally.movable side bars, swivel bearings mounting the rolls on the side bars,means for moving the side bars longitudinally in opposite directionswhereby the rolls are inclined relatively to the normal line of travelof articles on the conveyor for causing the belt to urge articlesoptionally either vtoward the right or toward the left as they progressalong the conveyor, guides adapted to be arranged at the side of theconveyor toward which the articles are urged, and a stationary plateextending between the rolls for supporting the belt.

3. In a machineof the kind described, a con-` veyor comprising twoparallel spaced conveyor rolls, a conveyor belt trained around the rollsand shiftable along the rolls, longitudinally movable side bars, swivelbearings mounting the rolls on the vside bars, a transversely arrangedlever pivotally mounted between its ends on the conveyor frame to swinghorizontally, means loosely connecting the lever with said side bar, thearrangement being such that, as the lever pivots, the .side bars movelongitudinally in opposite directions whereby the rolls are inclinedrelatively to the normal line of travel of articles on the conveyor forcausing the belt to urge articles optionally either toward the right ortoward the left as they progress along the conveyor, guides adapted .tobe arranged at the side of the conveyor toward which the articles areurged, and a stationary plate extending between the rolls for supportingthe belt.

4. In a conveyor having conveyor rolls on which a conveyor belt ismounted, side bars, swivel bearings on the side bars in which the rollsare mounted, the side bars being shiftable longitudinally to change theinclination of said rolls, a transversely arranged lever pivotallymounted between its ends to swing horizontally, means connecting theends of the lever with the side bars, the arrangement being such that asthe lever is swung the side bars are moved longitudinally in oppositedirections, and means for retaining the lever and side bars at bothlimits of their movement.

5. In a folding machine, a conveyor including parallel rollers formoving a sheet toward a folding unit,l sheet turning mechanism adaptedto turn the sheet selectively in a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection through an angle of while moving toward said unit, and meansfor pivotally supporting said rollers with each roller pivotal about anaxis approximately perpendicular to thecoxiteyor and approximately.passing through the middle of said roller, and means for securing therollers in parallel relationship and .inclined toward either side withrespect to theI longitudinal axis of the conveyor whereby the conveyoris biased toward either side. optionally without changing the axis ofthe conveyor and stationary support means for supporting the sheetbetween the rollers having an edge thereof adjacent one roller V-shapedin the plane of the conveyor. with each leg of the V lying closelyadjacent to the adjacent roller when the roller is in one or the otherof its inclined positions.

6. The invention as dened in claim l, and sheet manipulating meansadapted to deliver sheets to one end of the conveyor, and sheetmanipulating means adapted to receive the sheets from the conveyor, theguide being adjustable to cause the delivered sheets to properlyregister with said last named sheet manipulating means.

7. In a machine of the kind described, a conveyor comprising twoparallel spaced conveyor rolls, a conveyor belt trained around therolls, means mounting the rolls whereby they can be inclined relativelyto the normal linek of travel of articles on the conveyor to cause thebelt to urge the articles toward one side of the machine, a guidepositioned on the side of the machine toward which the articles areurged, a stationary plate extending between the rolls for supporting thebelt, the guide having a flat extension at its lower edge arrangedbetween the belt and said plate as and for the purpose specified.

8. A sheet conveying and turning mechanism i including an upwardlyfacing table, a pair of rolls at opposite ends of the table, a singleconveyor belt trained around the 'rolls' and along the table, means forshifting the rolls substantially in the plane of the table whereby thebelt is inclined optionally toward oneside of the table or the other tourge the sheets to the right or to the left as they are progressed alongthe table, means adapted to be arranged at the side of the table towardwhich the sheets are urged, optionally effective to turn the sheets andincluding edge guide means against which the edge of the sheet is thrustby the conveyorbelt, a plurality of traction devices distributed alongthe length of the belt for dependably dragging the sheets along thetable top and urging them against the edge guide with suflcient firmnessto substantially eliminate rebound at high speed operation, said beltbeing relatively narrow with respect to the width of the table but beingwide enough to allow said traction devices to have ample contacttherewith,

and means for shifting said belt laterally of the.

table to position it closelto the edge guide means toward which it urgesthe sheets.

v9. A sheet'l conveying and turning mechanism including an upwardlyfacing table, a pair of diagonally disposedrolls at opposite ends of thetable, a conveyor belt trained around the rolls and extending diagonallyalong the table to urge the sheets toward one side of the table as theyare progressed along the table, a stop intermediate the ends of thetable and at the side of the tially eliminate rebound at high speedoperation,

one of said traction devices comprising a roller having its axis locatedapproximately in the plane that is normal to the edge guide and ln-Acludes the stop, and others 'of the traction de- I vices being rotatablein any direction.

l0. In a folding machine, a conveyor including parallel rollers formoving a sheet toward a folding unit, sheet turning mechanism adapted toturn the sheet selectively in a clockwise or counter-clockwise directionthrough an angle of 90 while moving toward said unit, and means forpivotally supportingr said rollers with each roller pivotal about anaxis approximately perpendicular to the conveyor and approximatelypassing through said roller, and means for securing the rollers inparallel relationship and inclined toward either side with respect;tothe longitudinal axis of the conveyor whereby the conveyor is biasedtoward either side optionally without changing the longitudinal axisofthe conveyor, and side guide means cooperating with the conveyor toguide the sheet accurately to the folding unit and including a bottomflange which extends below thesheet on the conveyor and has an extensionextending close to the folding unit to support the sheet between theroller adjacent thereto and the folding unit.

11. A sheet conveying and turning mechanism yincluding an upwardlyfacing table, a pair of diagonally disposed rolls at opposite ends ofthe table, a conveyor belt trained around the rolls and extendingdiagonally along the table to urge the sheets toward one side of thetable as they are progressed along the table, a stop intermediate theends of the table and at the side of thev table toward which the sheetsare urged engaged by the sheet in its forward movement for stopping oneend of the sheet, edge guide means against which the side ed'ge of theturned sheet is thrust by the conveyor belt, a plurality of tractiondevices. distributed along the length of the belt and pressing thesheets thereagainst for dependably' .at opposite ends of the.table, asingle conveyor belt trained around the rolls and along the table andinclined towardwone side of the table to urge the sheets toward thatside as they are progressed along the table, means intermediate the endsof the table and arranged atthe side of the table toward which thesheetsare urged to turn the sheets 'and including edge guide means againstwhich the edge of the sheet is thrust by the conveyor belt, and tractionmeans e'ective along the length of the lbelt for dependably dragging thesheets along the table top and urgingv them against the edge guide withsuilicient rmness to substantiallyA eliminate Arebound at high speedoperation, said table being characterized by the absence of any shoulderthat is capable of catching or fouling the corner of the sheet that isdiagonally opposite the stop while said corner is moving laterally awayfrom the stop during the turning movement of the sheet. Y.

-13. A sheet conveying and turningmechanism including an upwardly facingtable, a pair of diagonally disposed rolls` at opposite ends of thetable, a single conveyor belt trained around the rollsafid extendingdiagonally along the tableto urge the sheets toward one side of thetable as mediate the ends of the table for turning the sheets astheyprogress along the table, edge guide means against whichthe side edge ofthe turned sheet is thrust 4by the conveyor belt, and a plurality oftraction devicesdistributed along the length of the-belt for dependablydragging theV sheets along the table top and urging them against theedge guide with sucient firmness to substantially eliminate rebound athigh speed operation, said belt being relatively narrow with respect tothe width of the table but being considerably Wider than the area ofdirect pressure between said traction devices and the belt to obtainmaximum gripping of the sheets.

which the side edge of the sheetis thrust by the biased conveyormeans-even though the sheet is unturned and is initially a substantialdistance laterally from the edge guide, and a plurality of tractiondevices distributed along the length of t the conveyor means fordependably moving the sheets along the -conveyor means and urging themagainst the edge guide with sulcient rmness to substantially eliminaterebound at high speed operation.

15. A substantially horizontal sheet conveyor for carrying sheets alonga contemplated direct line of travel from its entrancev end to itsdelivery end, sheet turning .mechanism adapted to'- be arranged forturning the sheets through substantially ninety'degrees either to theright -or to l the left asdesired, an associated guide toward which theturning mechanism is arranged to turn the sheets and arranged at anangle to the direction in which the conveyor is-v urging the sheets asthey are received from the turning mechanism so that the conveyor willcarry the sheets into contact with-the guide, and the guide beingmovable tov positions where the line of travel of the sheets as definedby the guide will be the contemf plated line of travel, the arrangementbeing such that the conveyor and the turning mechanism cooperate witheach other in moving the sheet in the general direction in which ittravels both in turning and in movement towards the sheet guide, saidconveyor comprising a 'pair of cross bars pivotally mounted'at theirtransverse center points to swing in a horizontal plane, parallellongitudinal side bars pivotally mounted on the opposite ends of thecross bars and av plurality cf substantially parallel conveyor" rollerspivotally mounted at their ends on the side bars, the arrangement beingsuch that the rollers can be sol changed in inclination so as to setthem at such ineffective, an associated guide toward which the'A turningmechanism is arranged to'turn thev sheets and arranged at an angle tothe direction in which the conveyor is urging the sheets as they arereceived from the turning mechanism so that the conveyor will carry thesheets into contact with the guide, and the guide being movable topositions where the line of travel of the sheets as defined by the guidewill be the contemplated line of travel, the arrangement being such thatthe conveyor and the turning mechanism cooperate with each other inmoving the sheet in the general direction in which it travels both inturning and in movement towards the sheet guide, said sheet turningmeans including an abutment associated with the guide and in the path ofone end of the advancing sheet, said guide being provided witn an openended slot through which the sheet advances to thelabutment, the wall ofthe slot being positioned so as not to impede a sheet positioned to passinwardly of the abutment without being turned, and means for pressingthe sheet upon the conveyor means to cause the sheet to turn upon theabutment as a pivot, said conveyor means including a diagonally-movingsheet engaging portion substantially' spaced laterally from the guidewhereby an unturned sheet will be dependably registered with the sideguide even through the sheet is initially widely'spaced laterally fromthe guide. l

i7. In a sheet conveyor, substantially horizontally disposed conveyormeans, sheet aligning means adapted to be arranged selectively either atone side or at the other side oi the conveyor means, the conveyor meansbeing adjustable to cause a conveyed sheet to be selectively carriedtoward an aligning means at one side or toward an aligning means at theother side of the conveyor as the sheet is carried forward by theconveyor, said conveyor -means comprising a plurality of substantiallyparallel conveyor rollers, the rollers being rotatably carried at theirends in bearings pivotally mounted on longitudinally movable side bars,the arrangement being such that the' rollers can be set at an advancinginclination to an aligning device at either side of the conveyor as andfor the purpose specified.

18. in a device of the kind described, sheet conveying means whichdefine a substantially flat horizontal conveying surface,'arranged andadapted to receive sheets at one end and discharge them at 'the oppositeend, means for operating said conveyor means to advance a sheet in apredetermined direction from the entrance end to the discharge end ofthe conveyor, means associated with the .conveyor means for causing thesheetsto be turned in a horizontal plane through substantially ninetydegrees selectively clockwise or counterclockwise, a guide adapted to bearranged in the path of the sheets as they are turned, and provided witha groove opening towards the conveyor means, the bottom ofthe grooveserving as a sheet guide and larranged with its lower wall below theiiat conveying surface defined by the conveyor means and projecting intoclose proximity with the adjacent edge thereof, said conveyor meansbeing capable of being selectively arranged @to urge the conveyed sheetstowards the sheet guide (that is in the directionA in which the sheetsare selectively turned). y

19. In a folding machine, a conveyor including parallel rollers formoving a sheet toward a folding unit, sheet turning mechanism adapted`toturn the sheet selectively in a clockwise or counterclockwise directionthrough an angle of while moving toward said unit, and means 'forpivotally supporting said rollers with each roller pivotal about an axisapproximately perpendicular to the conveyor and approximately passingthrough said roller, and means for securing the rollersv in parallelrelationship and inclined toward either side with respect to thelongitudinal axis of the conveyor whereby the conveyor is biased towardeither side optionally without changing the axis of the conveyor.

20. In a folding machine, a conveyor including parallel rollers formoving the Isheet toward a folding unit, sheet turning mechanism adaptedto turn the sheets selectively in a clockwise or counterclockwisedirection through an angle of ninety degrees while moving toward saidunit, a frame for supporting said rollers including parallel sidemembers which iix the spacing between corresponding ends of the rollers,and means for longitudinally shifting one of the side members relativeto the other Without disturbing their parallel relationship.

21. In a device of the class described, a conveyor table comprising sideguide means positionable 'on either side of the table and a biasedconveyor adjustable to convey sheets optionally to one side or the otherof the table, said conveyor including diagonally-moving sheet engagingmeans having portions thereof disposed longitudinally of the conveyor asubstantial distance away from the side guide means, turning meansadapted to be arranged in the path of the advancing sheets tocause themto be turned either to the left or to thel right in accordance with thevsetting of the conveyor and guide means, said turning means beingcapable of being rendered inoperative whereby sheets being moved alongthe tableby the conveyor will be urged through'- out substantially theirentire length by said diagonally-moving means of the conveyor towardsaid guide means and into registry therewith, even though the sheets, orportions of the edge to be registered against the guide means are asubstantial distance laterally from the 'guide 1 means after the sheetpasses the positionof the out buckling as they progress along theconveyor means, edge guide means against which the side edge of eachsheet is thrust by the biased conveyor belt, and a plurality of tractiondevices distributed along the length of the conveyor belt for dependablymoving the sheets along the conveyor means andurging them against theedge guide with sumcient iirmness to substantially eliminate rebound athigh speed operation.'

23. In a device of the class described, a conveyor table comprisingvside guide means positionable on either side of the table and a biasedconveyor adjustable. to convey sheets optionally to one side or theother of the table, said conveyor including diagonally-moving sheetengaging means having portions thereof disposed longitudinally of theconveyor a substantial distance away from the side guide means, turningmeans adapted to be arranged in the path o f the advancing sheets to'cause them to be turned said turning means being capable of beingrendered inoperative whereby sheets being moved along the table by theconveyorwill be urged throughout substantially their entire length bysaid diagonally-moving means of the conveyor toward said guide means andinto registry there"- with, even though the sheets, or portions of. theedge to be registered against the guide means are a substantial distancelaterally from the guide means after the sheet passes the position ofthe turning means, and means for preventing substantially any rebound ofthe sheets away from the guide means including pressure devices adaptedto be rotated by the conveyor and to be separated from the conveyor bythe sheet being conveyed.

24. In a device of the class described, a conveyor table comprising sideguide means position-A able on either side of the table and a biasedconveyor adjustable to convey sheets optionally to one side or the otherof the table, said conveyor including diagonally-moving sheet engagingmeans having portions thereof disposed `longitudinally of the conveyor asubstantial distance away from the side guide means, turning meansarea-11's -adapted to be arranged in the path 'of the advancing sheetsto cause them to be turned either to the left or to the right inaccordance with the setting of the conveyor and guide xrieans, saidturning means being capable of being rendered inoperative whereby sheetsbeing moved along the table by the conveyor will be urged throughoutsubstantially their entire length by s aid diagonally-moving means ofthe conveyor toward said guide means and into registry therewith, eventhough the sheets, or portions of the edge to be registered against theguide means are a substantial distance laterally from the vguide meanslafter the sheet passes the position of the turning means, and meansforpreventing substantially any rebound of the sheets away from theguide` means including a row of pressure balls arranged above the beltand adapted to be separated from the belt by a sheet being conveyed,-and said biased conveyor including ya belt looped about parallelrollers positioned on opposite sides of the sheet turning means.

WILLIAM WARD DAVIDSON, i

